General Correspondence, Vols. 66-82, January – June 1880

In January 1880, the Ohio legislature elected James A. Garfield as the state’s next U.S. Senator, and the new senator-elect publicly signaled his support for fellow Ohioan John Sherman for the presidency. When the Republicans held their nominating convention in Chicago in June, intraparty factionalism kept delegates from uniting on a candidate from either the Stalwart or Half-Breed wings of the party. As planned, Garfield entered Sherman’s name for the nomination, but delegates started focusing on Garfield as a potential candidate instead. After 36 ballots, on June 8 the convention chose the dark horse nominee James A. Garfield as its presidential candidate, with Chester A. Arthur of the Stalwart faction as the nominee for vice president.